Friday, September 19, 2008

Earlier this week, I was thinking about what might qualify as the five most important events in my lifetime. I came up with the following list, which perhaps reflects my personal perspective on the world more than anything else:

Cuban Missile Crisis (I was born a little after JFK was inaugurated, so I can’t go back much further in time than this)

9/11

Passage of the Civil Rights Act

Falling of the Berlin Wall / Breakup of Soviet Union

Nixon’s Resignation / Watergate

Not quite making the cut were the first moon landing and moon walk, the creation of the internet, and various other advances in science and technology.

I had wondered if the events of this week would make it on that list. While it is too early to tell, my initial gut reaction is that if the financial markets had a constitution, we have essentially just ripped it up and declared martial law. Things may meander back toward the way they used to be, but I don’t think the markets will ever be the same going forward, given what has just transpired, regardless of what the consequences turn out to be.

Many have written eloquently about recent events, but there are three posts from this morning that I wish to highlight:

Purpose of this Blog

The intent of this blog is to educate, inform and entertain readers, while also serving as an archived learning laboratory of sorts as I try to sharpen my thinking in areas such as volatility, market sentiment, and technical analysis. I also enjoy charging off on tangents and hope that readers may find some illumination or at least amusement in these forays.

Reviews of VIX and More

About Me

Chief Investment Officer at Luby Asset Management LLC in Tiburon, California. Previously worked as a full-time trader/investor and also a business strategy consultant. Education includes a BA from Stanford and an MBA from Carnegie Mellon.
Useless trivia: I once broke the world pogo stick jumping record without knowing it.